Kwabena Agyepong: Don’t call Mahama ‘a thief’

The General Secretary of the NPP Kwabena Agyepong has reiterated his call for all political parties and their communicators to elevate their discourse to one that will bring meaningful progress to Ghana.

He said that our cultural values which are meant to guide us are fast eroding.

“There must be mutual respect amongst us for political authority and elders of our nation,” Agyepong expressed these sentiments during his appearance on ‘Hot Issues’, a current affairs programme on TV3 network.

According to him, insults and calling of bad names against politicians and authorities by communicators of the political divide just for political expediency, denigrates politicians in the eyes of the public.

He said it was wrong to call President Mahama a thief when he is outside the country representing the whole nation on an international assignment, and that he would not want to see President Nana Akufo Addo being described in a similar manner when he becomes President.

He urged his party faithful to constructively criticise the incompetence of the President Mahama administration with facts in order to “woo undecided voters into our fold”.

Touching on ethnocentrism, the NPP secretary debunked the assertion that the party was ethnocentric and blamed the ruling NDC for espousing such mischievous propaganda, spinning deliberate exaggeration on comments some individuals in the NPP may have made.

He stated that the party is inclusive, has a national scope and a very rich tradition with the minority groups, especially with those from the Northern part of the country with the likes of Chief Dombo, Tolon Naa, Abaiyifaa Karbo, C.K Tadem, the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama who was Vice-President for two terms, and also the likes of Modesto Apaloo, S.G Antor, Courage Quarshiga amongst others from the Volta region. He emphasised that “we are all Ghanaians first despite our diversity, and that it was dangerous for anyone to play mischief with ethnocentrism just for electoral gains.”

He said Ghana’s current electoral register is flawed, evidence of which was adduced in the highest court of the land during the 2012 Election Petition. He added the Party has proposed some achievable number of electoral reforms to the Electoral Commission for consideration and implementation.

He noted the Justices of the Supreme Court recognised the need for significant changes in our electoral process and, therefore, gave a road map in their various judgments during the 2012 Election Petition. Other stakeholders including political parties have also made certain proposals, some of which have already been presented to the Electoral Commission, he added.

Agyepong urged the EC to be more collaborative and also notify political parties, stakeholders during the recruitment of temporary staff in order to reduce suspicion and build mutual trust and confidence. He emphasized that it is important for us to have a free, fair and transparent elections in 2016, “so that we can preserve our peace, stability and democracy.”

He said that the current power crisis is just a symptom of the bad governance, ineptitude, corruption and mismanagement of our economy and public funds. He noted that, in the six years of the current NDC government administration, they have borrowed the equivalent of $27 billion, which is more than four (4) times the amount of money the NPP borrowed during its 8yrs in power.

He lashed out the government for lack of value for money in the projects they have undertaken. He added that GNPC alone claims to have spent $65million on capacity building. He also described the government as insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians, many of whom are suffering under severe economic hardship.

Agyepong noted the NPP is ready to recapture political power and provide better governance that will accelerate socio-economic development and also ameliorate the sufferings of our people.

He admonished NPP members to revive their spirit of selflessness, sacrifice and service which has been an anchor of our tradition so as to make the task of recapturing political power in 2016 less difficult.